Automobile panel-curtain



D. G. TOWNSEND.

AUTOMOBILE PANEL CURTAIN.

APPLICAIION FILED MAR. I3, 1919.

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PATENT OFFICE.

DELBERT G. TOWNSEND, OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR T0 'HARTMAN- TOWNSEND G0., OF INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, A CORPORATION OF INDIANA.

AUTOMOBILE PANEL-CURTAIN.

Specification of Letters Patent.-

Patented July 6, 1920.

Application filed March 13, 1919. Serial No. 282,302.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, DELBERT G. TowNsnND, a citizen of the United btates, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Automobile Panel-Curtain, of which the following is a specification.

It is the object of my invention to provide an automobile panel side curtain structure of fabric, which will retain its shape in use under all ordinary conditions instead of sagging and wrinkling as side curtains commonly do, and which is inexpensive and simple to manufacture. I' t m/ In carrying out my invention, I provide a wire frame close to the edge of the side cnrtain, and interconnect 4the parts of said frame to hold them rigid relatively to one another; and when the side curtain is provided with a window portion, such as celluloid, I provide a frame around the edge of such window portion and connect it rigidly at a number of points to the outer frame of the curtain, the inner frame and the connec tions between it and the outer frame in such cases constituting the interconnection between the parts of the outer frame; and I cover the frame thus constructed with suitable fabric, preferably in two layers so as to cover the frame on both sides, and stitch or otherwise fasten the fabric at the window opening to the Celluloid of such window.

The accompanying drawing illustrates my invention: In such drawing, Figure 1 is a fragmentary view of a touring car equipped with side curtains constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a perspective view on a larger scale of two connected side curtains constructed in accordance with my invention, showing the frame construction, one of said side curtains being partly broken away and the other having its fabric and its window partially cut away.

The car body 10 and its top 11 are of any type, being shown as the body and top of a touring car. On each side of the car there is a series of panel side curtains, comprising one or more curtains 12 over the door or doors 13 and a suitable number of curtains 14 over the fixed parts of the sides of the vehicle body. Some of the curtains 14 may be continuous with some of the curtains 12, the fabric which integrally joins such continuous curtains forming a hinge between them when the doors 13 associated with such curtains 12 are open.-

Each panel curtain 12 or 14 has an outer frame 15, preferably formed by bending wire of suitable size into the desired shape for such curtains and butt-welding its abutting ends to form a smooth welded joint 16. This outer /frame 15 ordinarily lies quite close to the edge of the completed curtain, as is clear from Fig. 2, though when desired portions of the fabric may project beyond such outer frame 15,v as isshown at the upper part of curtain 14 in Fig. 2, as it is sometimes'more rconvenient to provide the fastening eyelets 17 outside of said outer frame. When the side curtain is to be provided with a window 18, whichis conveniently of transparent celluloid, an inner frame 19, also preferably of wire with its abutting ends butt-welded, is provided around such proposed window1 opening, but is preferably slightly larger than said opening so that it is slightly spaced therefrom; and this inner frame 19 is connected to the outer frame 15 by any desired number of cross-connecting wires 20, which lie in the plane of the frames 15 and 19 and are butt-welded to both'frames. This constitutes a complete rigid frame with all its parts interconnected. When there is no window provided in the curtain, as is sometimes the case, the cross-connection between the parts of the outer frame 15 may be made independently of any inner frame in a readily apparent manner.

' When the framework has been completed, the fabric 21 is laid over it on both sides thereof, so that the layers completely conceal between them the wire framework on which they are mounted. This fabric preferably projects inward beyond the inner frame 19 and overlies both faces of the window 18 a short distance inward of the edge thereof, and the overlapping parts of the fabric and window are suitably fastened together, as by stitching 22 when the window is Celluloid. The fabric 21 may be continuous for adjacent curtains 12 and 14 when the opening of the associated door 13 requires no separation between them; but the wire frames of adjacent vcurtains are en tirely separate, as is clear from Fig. 2, so

that no wire will. cross the hinge joint between the two curtains. In order to make this hinge joint a straight one, I preferably provide a few rows of stitching 23 along the desired hinge joint; this keeps the bending of the fabric straight as the hinge action takes place.

The stationary curtains 14 may be fastened to the. car body 10 and the top 11 in any convenient manner, such as by the usual eyelets 1T, which may be located either wlthin or without the outer f ame l5. The movable curtains 12 which are over the doors 13 may be fastened to and supported by said doors so as to swing therewith, in any convenient manner; there are several schemes for doing this, some ofv them being well known, but none is shown as such fastening and supporting arrangement constitutes no part of my present invention.

Il have found in practice that with thls construction of curtain the fabric is kept smooth and without wrinkles under all ordinary conditions, so that the car as a whole produces an appearance approaching that of a limousine but at much less cost.

I claim as my invention:

1. An automobile side curtain, comprising an outer frame approximating in shape the outer edge of the curtain, an inner frame spaced from the outer frame and approximating in shape but slightly larger than a window opening with which said curtain is provided, cross-connectors between said inner and outer frames to hold them in relatively fixed positions, a fabric covering overlying said frames and cross-connectors on both sides thereof and cut away to form the window opening, and a sheet of transparent material fixed in said window opening overlapped at the edges by the two layers of such fabric.

2. An automobile side curtain, comprising an outer frame approximating in shape the outer edge of the curtain, an inner frame spaced from the outer frame and approximating in shape but slightly larger than a window opening with which said curtain is provided, cross-connectors between said inner and outer frames to hold them in relatively fixed positions, a fabric covering overlying said frames and crossconnectors and cut away to form the window opening, and a sheet of transparent material fixed in said window opening overlapped at the edges by such fabric.

3; An automobile side curtain, comprising an outer frame approximating in shape the outer edge of the curtain, an inner frame spaced from the outer frame and approximating in shape but. slightly larger than a window opening with which said curv tain is provided, cross-connectorsibetween said innerv and outer frames to hold them in relatively fixed positions', a fabric covering overlying said frames and cross-connectors on both sides thereof and cut away to form the window opening, and a sheet of transparent material fixed in said win-' dow opening overlapped at the edges by the two layers of such fabric, said overlapping fabric and transparent material being stitched together inside of said inner frame.

di. An automobile side curtain, comprising an outer frame approximating in shape the outer edge of the curtain, an inner frame spaced from the outer frame and approximating in shape but slightly larger than a window opening with which said curtain is provided, cross-connectors between said inner and outer frames to hold them in relatively fixed positions, a fabric covering overlying said frames and cross-connectors and cut away to form the window opening, and a sheet of transparent material fixed in said window opening overlapped at the edges by such fabric, said overlapping fabric and transparent material being stitched together inside of said inner f `ame.

5. An automobile side curtain, comprising an outer frame approximating in shape the outer edge of the curtain, an inner frame spaced from the outer frame and approximatingA in shape a window opening with which said curtain is provided, crossconnectors between said inner and outer f `ames to hold them in relatively fixed positions, a fabric covering overlying said frames and cross-connectors on both sides thereof and cut away to form the window opening, and a sheet of transparent material fixed in said inner frame.

6. An automobile side curtain, comprising an outer frame'approximating in shape the outer edge of the curtain, an inner frame spaced from the outer frame and approximating in shape a window opening with which said curtain is provided, crossconnectors between said inner and outer 'frames to hold them in relatively fixed posi- DELBERT G. TOVNSEND. 

